


Words Left Unsaid

by sunraysinthesea



Series: Udo [8]
Category: Maleficent (Disney Movies), Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil
Genre: Dark fey, F/M, Fae/Human - Freeform, Fluff, Hugs, Just...affection, actions speak louder than words trope, different tropes in each chapter, fae wings 101, hand holding, independed chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:15:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21582880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunraysinthesea/pseuds/sunraysinthesea
Summary: You have come to learn that Udo conveys his feelings more through gestures rather than through words. Little did you know, there are many words unsaid behind each action.
Relationships: Udo (Disney)/Reader, Udo/Reader
Series: Udo [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527815
Comments: 35
Kudos: 159





	1. Chapter 1

  
It feels like someone set you on fire. 

Every ragged breath you take sends a sharp pain to your lungs, and you haven't the slightest doubt the coughs that shoot through your entire body have destroyed your throat. The fever is making your head fuzzy when your consciousness isn't slipping from your grasp, and it's a struggle to keep your eyes open, and even then you find yourself thinking how you should have listened to Udo when he told you to stay in Moors when an epidemic broke out in the Kingdom of Ulstead. Despite Udo telling you, there is no need for you to go there, that you can continue your work here and you should wait at least until the disease is diagnosed, you insisted you should go, that you are a fast learner and could help the healers with taking care of the sick. 

Being stubborn has not worked in your favor this time however, considering you are now bedridden suffering from the same disease that has wreaked havoc in the kingdom in the past week. There have not been any deaths so far, but you could say from first-hand experience that you are threading quite close. At least they have given you a private room so you could wallow in your misery in peace without worrying about keeping up appearances. Regret washes over you as you recalled the time when you were healthy like a distant yet fond memory, a habit that shows itself only when you are sick, you realize. You have warned the knights several times not to let Udo in under any circumstances, not being able to predict his reaction to your current condition scaring you the most. Would he tell you 'I told you so'? Would he be disappointed in you? Would he be angry with you? 

Perhaps you are being dramatic, perhaps it's the stress all the overthinking has caused you, but the mere thought of Udo being angry with you sends tears flooding your eyes, and before you know it, you are crying like there is no tomorrow, your sobs echoing through the room. Sluggishly bringing an arm up to cover your eyes, you kick the blanket off with a whine, the fever combined with your body heating up from crying feeling too hot to bear under a blanket. You block out the vague sounds of a commotion without thinking much of it, commotions in the castle are no longer uncommon with people are buzzing all over the place, be it healers yelling orders or knights bringing in new patients. 

The sound of the door to your room slamming open makes your body go stiff, and a brief thought of whether holding your breath would completely erase your presence from the room to save you from the embarrassment flashes through your hazy mind. You unwillingly remove your arm from your eyes. Blurry as it may be, the sight of a pure white silhouette makes your heartbeat spike up. Just as you are about to try and get up, a hand swiftly pulls the blanket up to your chin, tucking you snugly back into the bed. 

Udo cradles your face in his hands, and being mindful of his nails, wipes your tears away with the pads of his thumbs. It feels like your heart had stopped when you see his face clearly. It looks, unfamiliar, to say the least. His gaze distant, jaw clenched tight, and eyebrows uncharacteristically furrowed, you can't tell what he is feeling.

'' Udo--'' you hoarsely call out his name, but before you could say anything else,

''Quiet.'' He hisses sharply. 

You have never seen him like this, you have never heard this tone of his. Whatever words you wanted to say get stuck like a lump in your throat, and you feel your eyes starting to burn again. You keep your eyes open and fix your gaze to the ceiling to keep yourself from crying. He is angry, you have disappointed him, you should have listened to him--

A cool hand on your forehead halts your self-deprecating thoughts. Udo places a cold cloth on your forehead and hooking his arm under the back of your neck, gently lifts your head enough for you to drink whatever hellish-tasting drink he is forcing down your throat. Your eyes shut tight at the awful taste, the tears you have been trying so hard to hold back trickling down from your cheeks, but you know better than to resist drinking. The worse it tastes the better the healing effects, right? 

His hands come up to wipe your cheeks again, the last thing you hear before your consciousness fades is shuffling and a relieved, and almost pained sigh. 

You can vaguely remember being woken up several times from someone lifting your head to make you drink something. Sometimes, when you are barely awake, you can hear the distant sounds of people talking, the rhythmic sound of someone pacing in the room helping you fall back into a dreamless sleep. 

When you wake up, it doesn't feel like your body is on fire. You can breathe just fine, and your throat no longer feels like your vocal cords have been ripped to shreds. The first thing you see when your eyes flutter open is Udo, sleeping on a chair at your bedside, his arms crossed and head hanging to the side. You wince at how uncomfortable it looks. Just as you move to get up, Udo's eyes shoot open, probably at the sound of shuffling. He straightens up as if he was never sleeping in the first place, 

''How do you feel?''

The concern in his voice is evident, and the softness of his tone melts all your worries away, and you visibly relax as you release the breath you didn't know you were holding. 

''Never been better.'' you smile sheepishly. 

He moves from the chair to sit on the edge of the bed with a sigh and he pulls you into his arms wordlessly, hugging you so tight you can feel his arms shaking, and he rests his head on your shoulder, breathing in your scent. You realize how stressed he must have been during the time you were sick when your eyes fall onto his unusually stiff wings. You shift in his arms to fully face him, gingerly returning the hug, planting an apologetic kiss on the base of his horns, as the two of you stay there in the quiet room, relishing in each other's warmth. 

_'' You scared me'' he says,_

_''Never do that again'' he says,_

_'' It felt like my soul was being ripped apart when I heard your cries'' he says,_

_**''I thought I lost you''.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Hand holding was more of a secret code than a means of showing affection between the two of you, you have come to realize one night laying in your bed, staring blankly at the ceiling as the gears in your head keep turning slowly but surely like a waterwheel in a rushing river. He is on your mind when you are awake and he adorns your dreams when you are asleep, the thought of him seeping through from deep within your conscious any and every part of the day whether you want it or not. It makes your heart leap and clench painfully at the same time, wondering if you are alone in your daily routine of going through every fond memory you have of him. Which are most of your memories with him, really.

Does his heart leap at the thought of you like yours do at the thought of him? Does an uncontrollable smile bloom on his face like wildflowers in spring when he recalls the fond memories the two of you share? 

Tossing and turning in bed, you find that every position you take proves to be uncomfortable in some way. In one position there is a stinging feeling in your back, similar to the feeling when you straighten up after realizing you have been slouching for so long. Then, your neck warns you that the familiar feeling is not unlike when you fell asleep in a carriage once with your neck craned the wrong way, unable to rid yourself from the neck pains till the week after. Your legs protest no matter which way you stretch or fold them, leaving you shuffling under the blanket for an unholy amount of time. Is it too bright to sleep even with the thick curtains drawn all the way, keeping any light from seeping in? Are you not tired enough today, after working from early in the morning to the dead of the night? You wonder why has sleep forsaken you so. 

Changing positions with a muffled groan, you decide to pointedly ignore the little voice telling you that it is the thought of him that sends your brain overtime like a librarian on her nightshift, walking through the endless corridors lined with bookshelves, carefully picking the books she likes to read to spend a silent night, much like how you are choosing the memories that set your heart ablaze to relive them vividly on this night where sleep refuses to claim you. 

Udo was the one who initiated the hand-holding first, you recall fondly, taking your hand in his when strolling in the woods like it was the most natural thing. Well, it was, considering you were courting, but the move was smoothly executed nonetheless. He did not let go of your hand for the rest of the stroll, only pulling away when he had to use his hand for something, but swiftly locking your hands back afterward. For that you were eternally grateful, feeling your pointless worries being washed away. You were sure you could not take another week of fretting about the right time to take his hand or if he would be bothered or if hand holding was even normal to their kin. The stress would eat you up from the inside out. 

Plus, that was when the secret code began. The meaning differed from situation to situation, but a gentle squeeze is shared to communicate regularly. 

When in the forest, if he halts and squeezes your hand, he is saying _'' Take a look.''_ , often used when he wanted to show you something. Whether it be woodland creatures themselves or something they are doing, he would squeeze your hand to get your attention without disturbing them. Sometimes it is to pull you back from your thoughts when he sees you zoning out, reminding you of his presence. _''Come back to me.''_ Or just to prevent unnecessary words from disturbing the tranquil atmosphere. 

If the said squeeze is accompanied by a light tug and maybe a firm step forward from him, it morphs into _''Get behind me.''_ and _'' Something is amiss''_ which, thankfully, you have experienced only once, the source of the disturbance only being a lone lost foreign traveler from the neighboring kingdom. 

His hands find yours in conversation at times, depending on what you are talking about. Sometimes it's random, just an indication he is engaged in conversation. _'' Go on, I am listening.''_ When you are talking about something that you are particularly sensitive about, it's a means of comfort. _''You are all right. I am with you.''_ Topped off with a crease between his eyebrows or a concerned look, in general, it is _'' You may stop, if you wish.''_ or _''Take your time.''_

There was also the time he took your hand to press your palms together, something akin to a smirk on his lips. It took you a moment to realize he was measuring your hands-- comparing them to his, rather, relishing in the way his hand can engulf your considerably tinier one, intertwining his fingers with yours. 

A smile splits your face as you curl up to yourself. To think you there would come a day where you would find someone who could make you feel in such a way that you could relate to the heroes and heroines told in tales and stories, hopelessly in love with their spouses, slaying dragons and burning up suns for them, the fools in love. As if it was holding back until you come to this realization, the tiredness of the day catches up on you, and you feel yourself finally drift off. 

Getting nowhere near enough sleep, your eyelids feel heavy when you open them the next morning, the only thing keeping your grumpiness at bay being the fragments left over from the pleasant dream you had, confirming the theory that you will dream of whom or what you are thinking about before you fall asleep. You groggily sit up and get ready to depart for the gates, at least you did not have to hole up in your office working through documents from morning to night again. The sight of Udo waiting for you at the gates recharges some of your energy, and you do a little jog to reach him faster. Your eagerness makes him smile, and the moment you stop at his side, he locks hands with you, placing a tender kiss onto the back of your hand for good measure. 

_''Good morning.''_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an idea about how I wanna write this but the concept is small and not exactly wordy :') and deciding on the format was... Phew. aka: 
> 
> Me: Hey can I get uuuh, at least 1k words?  
> Brain: We have at least 1k words at home.  
> The ''1k words'' at home: 176 words


	3. Chapter 3

It is widely known that humans eat up any kind of affection offered to them so long as they are comfortable with it, excluding some special cases. It comes naturally to them, little touches scattered through daily life. Little, encouraging touches on the shoulders, reassuring pats on the back, fingers soothingly running through one's hair, suffocating hugs and unnecessarily tight hand-squeezing are some of the many ways of touch Udo has learned that deepens the bond between people. It was even written in a book you lent him that embracing one another for a small hourglass worth of time has proven to bring people closer. He still remembers the way your face flared up when he suggested the two of you should try it out to prove it, _purely for research purposes, of course._

Although it took you a good while to get comfortable with the whole concept and completely melt into his embrace, he finds it regrettable that you got used to it at all. He has come to find great joy in mildly teasing you at the beginning for almost shoving him away after the last bit of sand has landed on the bottom pile of the hourglass with your face lightly dusted pink, but seeing you wait expectantly for him to raise his arms for you to slither in between them is just as satisfactory. 

He can not deny he does not see the appeal in it, as he catches himself touching you way more often--in private, he does have a reputation to hold up in front of the children, after all, but it is unusual for him to almost _crave_ touching you in some way. You part with a hug and greet each other with a kiss, hands intertwined when taking a walk, legs always touching one way or another when sitting, like making sure of one another's presence as if you are not sitting side by side already. 

His touch lingers when he brings a hand up to caress your cheek with his knuckles before he turns his hand and cradles your face, eyes softening when you lean into his touch. _'' Love,''_ he almost utters the pet name he calls you in his mind out loud, but the said word is for his ears only, for now, he does not want to utter it meaninglessly. You make him feel some type of way, and he wishes he had the words to describe how you make his heart stutter in the most blissful way possible. 

It became a little game he plays on his own, peppering in silent compliments throughout the day, making his feelings known without saying them aloud. You catch up pretty fast, though you do not know exactly what you caught up with. There is certainly a change in his behavior, you just can't put your finger on what it is. 

You first realized it during that one time you were chatting under a meadow in the forest--it was more of a one-sided rambling actually, you vaguely remember heatedly telling Udo about one of the many things you are passionate about, his thumb drawing mindless circles on your arm as he listens attentively. His eyes widen when you suddenly cut off in the middle of your sentence, a wide smile blooming on your face at the sight of a wild rabbit. 

Tugging at his robes, you point at it excitedly, a soft 'aww' leaving your lips when it hops into a bush, away from your sight. The former topic long forgotten you stare into the bush some more, your smile still present, and it takes a great deal of willpower for Udo to stay seated instead of getting up and bringing the bunny to you if it meant you would grace him with that expression again. 

The back of his fingers are grazing your cheek before he can stop himself, his fangs peeking through his lips. 

_''Ah, that is quite charming.''_

The other time strikes you as random. No context, no background, he comes up to you one day and cradles your face up so you would be facing him, and just stares at you, his thumb rubbing back and forth on your cheek. You stare back, trying to search for an answer in his expression. Unfortunately, you are unable to deduce anything but the fact that he is staring at you extremely lovingly, with a gaze that is enough to melt you.

Did... Did something happen? Did someone say something? Is he feeling sappy? Is there like, an emotional period that Fey go through that you should know about? 

You have to purse your lips to keep yourself from laughing. The expression you have on is undoubtedly odd, confirmed by Udo's harsh exhale, trying to keep himself from chuckling in your face. You only wish you knew what is going through his mind right now. 

_''I adore you.''_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Speculars are apparently like a bird's shoulders, it's where the wing connects with the body. Yes I researched bird anatomy for this, don't quote me on the info's credibility though ;;

All the questions you had died down in your throat as the tundra fae shrugs the robes off his shoulders, letting them hang around his hips as he takes a seat on the floor in front of you. Your mind briefly goes blank as you drink in the sight of his bare back. 

Udo crosses his legs and rests an elbow on his knee to balance himself into a relaxed slouch, ruffling his wings and stretching them out in a subtle attempt to snap you out of it, and the slight flick of his ears lets you know of the knowing smirk he is probably sporting in the process. 

Surely enough, the sound of shuffling catches your attention and clearing your throat, you plop down between his wings clumsily as your mind starts getting back into motion. 

How did it even come to this? You vaguely remember discussing the anatomy of the different types of fae, and then the topic specifically shifted to wings and everything about them, from the many different shapes and sizes and their attributes, which of them are faster or stronger, how the fae use them during combat, to when and how they change during the molting season and how to groom them. Then, you commented how foreign all these were for you (besides your lack of wings), since, despite your embarrassment, it has only recently sunk in that yes, wings are a part of the fae, which is a completely different species with differently functioning bodies despite some similarities they share with the humans, mostly appearance-wise. 

Luckily, Udo takes no offense, knowing humans' tendency to humanize other species to familiarize themselves with said species, same even applying to inanimate objects. He huffs in amusement as he recalls the broom you keep in the archives, officially named 'Sir Sweeper McSweepy, the Banisher of Dust'. You often complained about him treating you like one of the children he teaches, but besides being an ancient fae at least a hundred times your age, he sees it just to treat you so when you create a makeshift knight of out a broom. Your insatiable hunger for knowledge doubled with your childlike curiosity was one of the many qualities that had drawn him to you, and they are one of the many qualities he is happy to indulge. 

He glances over his shoulder just in time to catch you ogling at the mass over pure white feathers before you turn to raise a brow at him. He twists his body slightly so he can see you out of the corner of his eye without straining his neck and starts speaking,

''Our wings consist of typically seven to eight types of feathers,'' he stretches his wings fully to grant you easier access as he names the feathers, his soft voice guiding your hand to the feathers he tells you about as you gingerly brush your fingers across them. 

''Oh, this one's twisted a bit awkwardly.'' you murmur as you try to smooth out the odd feather. 

''Give it a light tug.'' 

''Are... Are you asking me to _pluck_ you?'' You can not mask the disbelief in your voice. 

Udo rolls his eyes in feigned annoyance, ''Worry not, it has to have fallen out some time ago for it to bend like that.'' 

With an understanding hum, you pull the feather, and it comes off with no resistance. You roll it with your fingertips for a moment, ''Can I keep it?'' 

Udo tilts his head, some of his hair spilling over his shoulder in the process, ''It is but a fallen feather, not to mention it is nowhere near neat. I could give you another one.'' 

''Okay, you can give me another one, but I still want to keep this one.'' you wrinkle your nose at him and pocket the feather. 

''Greedy, aren't you, little one?'' he chuckles before continuing with his explanation. 

''We have six types of bones in the wing, which function in the same way the bones in your arms do. In fact, they are the same bones. Try flexing your arm out- the other arm, yes, like that. Relax your hand. Now, keep an eye on the tip of my wing as you curl it into a fist.'' You do as he instructs, watching the way his wings curl the same way your hand does. You curl your wrist in, then your arm, your eyes widening in wonder as Udo's wing slowly mirrors your movement. 

''So... you have a giant pair of feathery arms on your back?'' 

''...Roughly, yes.'' 

''Oof,'' you hiss, ''I was way off when I thought they were just an attachment.'' 

Udo's eyes widen as if he remembers something, ''Right! That was why we were here. Come closer. ...Closer. There is no need to be shy.'' His eyes shine with mirth as he flashes you his fangs, and with a groan, you shuffle closer to him until you are a hair's width away from his bare back, feeling heat creeping on your face again. The new information about fae wings had you distracted enough that you have forgotten your lover is half-naked before you, and before you can stop yourself, your hands are already petting his scapulars. His wings twitched at the contact, his back muscles also reacting to the movement. Your eyes follow the feathers that are peppered across his back. The feathers around the joint are bigger and thicker, getting gradually smaller and growing sparse the farther you get from the joint before eventually fading to little white freckles over his shoulders. 

You trace them fondly with your fingertips and even grazing them with your knuckles before you flinch away as if burned, realizing he had not permitted you to touch his back. You pull your hand back to your chest, many apologies clumsily falling out of your mouth. Dark Fae's backs are extremely sensitive, and they grew especially antsy about it after learning the reason why Maleficent hates humans. Your thoughts are running wild in your mind before Udo breaks the silence, making your head snap up to look at him. 

''It is-'' he clears his throat, ''It is quite alright. I was going to have you feel the... base nonetheless.'' You squint at the back of his head, why does his voice waver so? His ears flick before flattening against his head, the redness of the tips not escaping your attention. 

''Then may I-'' 

''Yes.'' 

You purse your lips to hold back a giggle at how quickly he responded. _'If only he knew what he just agreed to,'_ you smile before pressing your lips right between his wings.


End file.
